New Belgium Lips of Faith (Erics Sour Peach Ale)

Brewed by New Belgium Brewing Company
Style: Sour Ale
Fort Collins, Colorado USA

On draft, poured at the 2006 Pizza Port 12 Hour Belgian Beer Party. Golden, amber colored pour with a thin, flakey white head. Mild pear aromas with some vinegary citrus, mostly coming through as under-ripe mango and sour pineapple. A touch sour on the palate, but not to the point of being overdone. The fruity flavors of peach and sour muskmelon come through in a nice and refreshing manner, but leave me desiring more complexity. Pleasant final smack of white pepper and cantelope rind.

tap at falling rock. light copper with rising bubbles to thin head. peach, sour, oak barrel aroma. peach fuzz, sour, dry finish. body doesn’t seem thin but it does seem just a bit watered down. mild sour with nice balance.

Had a sample of this at the brewery. Beer poured a clear, light golden-peach color with a small, frothy, white, mostly diminishing head that left behind a little lacing. The aroma was very close to La Folie, and being a great admirer of that beer, I have to keep reminding myself not to think of this ale as a variant of something that’s already near perfection. So ... here it goes. The aroma is very peachy, tart and lush. It contains a light malt note of toasted grain; trace hop notes of black tea, pine and apricot; moderate yeast notes of barnyard and dough; and plenty of fresh peach, honey and B Vitamins, along with a moderate amount of the balsamic vinegar and tart apple aromas of it’s parent beer. The flavor is heavily sweet and moderately acidic with a long, lightly sweet, heavily acidic finish that carried another hit of peach retronasal aroma. The body is medium, the texture was watery-to-velvety and the carbonation is lively. As a fruit beer, it’s one of the more engaging and exotic I’ve had.

8/16/06 on draught at Papago: Pours to a light golden yellow body, slightly hazy though not at all opaque, with a small white head that quickly fades to a small ring around the glass. The aroma suggests peach, light honey, and a generous dose of the La Folie sourness. The flavor is very sour, maybe more so than I was expecting - more sour than say Lindemans but certainly less than Cantillon. It shows some fresh, ripe peach, sour peach, honey, sour, vinegar-like pale La Folie base. Moderate-medium carbonated, medium bodied (though it certainly felt very effervescent & feathery in the mouth). Finishes with plenty of sourness though it lacks that peeling-the-enamel-off-your-teeth feeling of Cantillon (which I realize it’s not trying to be). Overall a very interesting beer to taste. I hope New Belgium continues to experiment along this line of sour beers.

first of all, let me say if this was only called lips of faith i totally wo0uld never have tried it. secondly let me say kudos to our server who suggested it when i said something different. and lastly kudos to new belgium for taking a risk and having this AMAZING sour beer on tap. flavors of yellow sour cherries, some lemon, grass, jalepeno cheese, peaches, sweet-n-low and fantastic.

On tap at Brouwers in Seattle.

I’m pretty impressed. No, I’m really impressed.

This beer pours light with a vigorous head. The aroma is peach, lemon juice, and apple vinegar; it offers a very clean taste, not much funk. Semi-sweet peach on the front, reasonable and lightly-sour followthrough, plenty of lemon, hints of woody dryness.

Not only the best New Belgium beer that I’ve tried, but it might also make a very "gateway lambic" for those unaccustomed to the various intensities and idiosyncracies of the style.

Revisit at Brouwers 8/9/08. Slightly sweeter than I recall, more peach, certainly not much funk. The prior 4.0 seems a very fair rating.

At Draft Dinner series at 1515 for GABF 08. Peach, lemon, and some honey as well. Not as sour as it could be, but good.

FoBAB 2008 offering: #814 - Clear golden hue, white head, aromas a little more subtle than the other NB wild offerings. Fresh peach and sourness dominate, with some other subtle fruity sweetness mixing in as well. Bretty funk and light wood notes are there, but aren’t in prominent roles. Quite sessionable, a nice funk and sourness stay on the palate lingering very nicely.